Troubled Friendships

In the 1970s the Soviet Union signed friendship and co-operation treaties with 14 Third World states. This volume examines the bilateral relationship between the Soviet Union and six of those states in the context of the general development of Soviet-Third World relations. Written by well-known specialists in Soviet and Russian foreign policy, each case-study compares Soviet relations with individual countries during the Brezhnev era with those that developed during perestroika in order to establish the nature of the changes and the problems that were encountered in disengaging from expensive Third World commitments. Political and diplomatic issues, economic links and military relations are treated separately. Thus, each chapter is structured to facilitate cross-country comparisons. The concluding chapter draws more explicit comparisons, examines the similarities and differences between Soviet attitudes to "friends" and "non-friends" and considers the outlook for Russian relations with the Third World.